Reports that PartyGaming is in advanced talks to buy GigaMedia’s Everest Gaming operation have been rejected by industry observers who point out that the timing of recent stock exchange announcements make the notion of an imminent deal far-fetched.

However, the online gaming giant had earlier announced to the stock exchange on 9 April that chief executive Jim Ryan and finance director Martin Weingold were to receive performance-related share options and stock exchange rules mean the company would have had to inform the market at that time if it was in detailed takeover discussions.